ARTICLES ABOUT SPURS BY DATE - PAGE 5

Q: Ira, last year there weren't any flagrant fouls or technicals with the Heat and Spurs. Now Mario Chalmers has a flagrant, LeBron James and Tim Duncan were T'd up and Dwyane Wade and Tony Parker are flopping. I love it. -- Sid. A: Because these teams are getting tired of one another. Like LeBron said going in, it's difficult to establish a rivalry when you're only playing twice during the regular season. But now, with 11 meetings in just over 12 months, a testiness is developing.

Five thoughts as we move toward tonight's Game 3 in the NBA Finals: 1. Has LeBron James "cracked the code" of the Spurs? That's code-cracking phrase has become part of the Heat dictionary for figuring how opposing defenses. And it looks like LeBron has figured out something. Through three games of the Finals last year, the question was if Gregg Popovich and the Spurs defense had come up with a way to slow LeBron. He had scored 15, 17 and 18 points in those games, numbers compounded by his shooting just 39 percent and six foul shots total.

Much has changed since Miami Heat veterans Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis first faced the San Antonio Spurs in the postseason. Allen and Lewis no longer play for the Seattle SuperSonics. They both have since won a championship. They are now in the twilight of their careers. All this change, yet one constant remains nine years after battling the Spurs in the 2005 Western Conference semifinals: They are still playing against Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker wearing the same silver-and-black uniforms.

For Game 3 of the NBA Finals, everything was festive ... until the San Antonio Spurs got off to a blazing start. That drew all sorts of reactions on social media. Twitter, as always, was an outlet for those folks to get out their thoughts. Here's a sampling of the best ones from former NBA players, media personalities and athletes: SportsNation @SportsNation 9:15 p.m. We can confirm it is NOT 2008 despite the fact that Boris Diaw and Rashard Lewis are starting in this game.

Observations from Tuesday night's 111-92 NBA Finals loss to the San Antonio Spurs at AmericanAirlines Arena: -- No need for those who left early to demand re-entry for this one. -- The Heat certainly set themselves up for quite the challenge. -- To much of a challenge. -- A little more earlier, and it could have been a lot easier later. -- But sometimes the other team just doesn't miss. -- The Spurs sure looked at home back early on at the scene of the worst nightmares last year.

With all due respect to ABC's Jeff Van Gundy, arguably the most entertaining, informative NBA color analyst on television, the Finals just aren't the same without TNT's Marv Albert and the inimitable Charles Barkley. Thankfully, Barkley made his first appearance of the Finals during NBA TV's Gametime pregame show with fellow TNT studio partner Shaquille O'Neal. Barkley avoided the first two games along San Antonio's River Walk partly because of his ongoing feud with Spurs fans since his on-air shots at the, "big 'ol women down there.

When/Where: 9 p.m., AmericanAirlines Arena. Tickets: Available at HEAT.com or 1-800-4NBA-TIX. TV: ABC. Radio: 790-AM, 104.3-FM, 106.3-FM, 98.3-FM (Spanish). Scouting report: The best-of-seven NBA Finals are tied after the Heat's 98-96 victory Sunday in San Antonio . . . This is the fifth consecutive year the Finals have been tied 1-1 going into Game 3, with the Heat involved in four of those series . . . The last team to win the first two games of the Finals was the Lakers in 2009, who defeated the Magic 4-1 . . . The Heat are 8-0 at home this postseason, going 2-0 against Charlotte in the opening round, 3-0 against Brooklyn in the second round and 3-0 against the Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals . . . The Heat went 3-1 against the Spurs at home during last season's NBA Finals, then defeated the Spurs 113-101 Jan. 26 at AmericanAirlines Arena in the teams' lone regular-season meeting this season in Miami . . . LeBron James' 35 points Sunday were two shy of his Finals high.

Even after allowing a 35-point performance, the San Antonio Spurs have no plans of altering the way they defend Miami Heat forward LeBron James. Many of James' points were scored on contested jumpers, something the Spurs say they will live with. The strategy remains to keep James out of the paint. "Yes, I mean they were contested jumpers," Spurs guard Danny Green said. "You're not going to block his jump shot. He's 6-9 and he's pretty athletic. So, you've got to live with contested jumpers.

- Through eight games at home this postseason, the Heat are perfect. It hasn't mattered whether the opponent was the Charlotte Bobcats, the Brooklyn Nets or the Indiana Pacers. Eight times, Miami has taken the floor at AmericanAirlines Arena in the playoffs and all eight times, they've walked off it victorious. But as the NBA Finals shift to Miami tied at one game apiece ahead of Tuesday night's Game 3, the Heat know things are about to get tougher, especially with the San Antonio Spurs returning to the court where they saw their championship hopes end a season ago. Though the Spurs have gone 3-5 on the road this postseason, they've shown they can pick up the occasional, much-needed win away from the AT&T Center in San Antonio.